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What makes this particular scam a little more dangerous than others is that the link goes to a Facebook.com address, which may encourage recipients to treat it as valid, although it actually takes them to a third-party application.

That app tries to hound recipients into installing an unknown Java applet, persisting even after the “no thanks” button is clicked. Those who continue receive a message that Adobe Flash must be updated.

Of course, rather than a Flash update, files are added to users’ WIN32 folders, which enable remote spying and hacking.

Sophos said its security products detect the malware as Mal/SpyEye-B and Troj/Agent-WHZ and block access to its website.

As Sophos pointed out, this particular scam plays on the emotions of Facebook users who fear losing access to their accounts.

Readers: Have you received any emails similar to the one illustrated by Sophos?